Improvement in apparatus for cleansing ships  bottoms



'NI'I'ED Starts TO IsAAc HEYMAN, for SAME PLACE, AND WILSON, OF WADDINGTON, NEW YORK.

ONE-THIRD TO THOMAS IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR cLEANsmesHrPs BOTTOMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 176,655, dated April 25, 1876 application filed I July 21, 1875. q I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM MARTIN, of Poughkeepsie, in the county ofDutchess and State of New York,.have invented anew and Improved Apparatus for Cleansing Ships Bottoms; and that the following is a full, clear, and'exac't description'of thesam'e, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and'to the letters of reference marked thereon, making. a part of this specification.

lhisinvention is in the natnreof animproved apparatus for cleaning ships bottoms; andthe' inventionconsists in a seriesof adjustable brushes and scrapers constructed to cleanse the bottom of aiship' and its keel, and to be operated from boats-or floats alongside the ship, so that the-ships bottom-maybe thoroughly cleansed Without the necessity: of putting her into clock for this pnrpose, ;aswill more fullyappear from the followingdescrip tion and accompanying drawings, wherein' Figure l isa side viewof Icy-apparatus for cleansing ship's bottoms and Fig. 2 an end view, partly in section I Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in both figures. 7 I 7 It is w'ell known that the fouling ofthe ships bottom offers seriousobstruotion to her sailing, and that it becomes frequently necessary to putithe ship in dock to cleanjthe'bot tom from this'a'ccumulation of: animal and vegetable matter, and that the docking-,ofthe shipis not only'expensive,-but iii-consumes. much time that would-otherwise be profitably employed by the ship, To obviate thisexpense and loss of time,.I .constructa series of devices which will effectually scrape, and brush, and remove all of the accumulation of foreign matter that is commonly found on the bottom of ships, such as shell-fish, seaweeds, 850., that attach themselves to and befoul the I ships bottom, and this removal is effected without the necessityof putting the vessel in the dock. To-do this I place upon floats or camels A A frames at a, which support, in suitable bearings, windlasses b and c, and the necessary gear-wheels and shafts d and-e, with their cranks for operating the same. These floats are moored, as, shown in Figs. 1 and 2,

one on each side of the hull of the vessel B.

,thekeel of the ship, so that some of them Will-restagainst the under surface of the keel, the whole series of scrapers, plates, and springs ;for ming,-as it were, a chain, the bight of which presses against thehottom of the'keel, and the ends being securedto, the carriages 1) D on each side of the hull.' The carriages I and the series of scrapersare firmly held in position by suitable lines k k andl l, the lines I 707a resting upon little plungers m, in the up:

per-ends of which plungers are titted pulleywheels'm and into their lower ends small truck-wheels n, the linesk k extending upward and being secured to the floats A on each side of thevessels hull, so that as they are hauled taut they. confine the carriages D D and the scrapers E closely to the ships side, the scrapers andtheir plates adapting .themselves to the irregular surfaces-of the hull. From the drums 7 pass upward, to the float, lines o, these lines beingwouud about the druma', and also about the windlassc. This Windlass c, aswell as the drum 2', is made in twosections, and each section may have its appropriate line, the lines, however, being Wound about the drums and windlasses in different directions-that is, one is coiled about them to the right and the other to the left. From the under side of the supports F of the scrapers E, or rather from the lower one of the series, is secured a guy-rope, 12, extending forward to a boom with a block seized to its outer end, through which block the guy-rope p is rove, the end of the guy-rope being carried to and around the Windlass s. I

My hull-cleaneing apparatus being con structed substantially as above described, it

is operated as follows:

The carriages, with their brushes and the scrapers, being in position so as to pass down the sides-of the ship and under the keel of the same in the manner before described, the floats Aare moored to the sides of the vesselat, for instance, the bow of the same and, the sustaining-lines k It being hauled taut, the brushes and scrapers are confined to' the sides of the hull and keel, the springs 9 between the su11 porting-plates F of the scrapers permittiug the scrapers to adjust themselves to the inequalities in the form of the ships side, and the guy-rope 1) being in position in the manner mentioned, and a similar guy-rope, extending to the stern of the ship, being in position also, power, either manual or otherwise, is applied to the shaft d, causing the g ar-wheels thereon to revolve and, through them, the-Windlass 0 to turn and wind thereon the lines 0, which, as they are unwound from l he drums i, cause said drums to revolve, giving motion to a suitable gear-wheel, r, attached to it, which latter gear-wheel meshes into the gear-wheels hon the revolving brushes f and g, causing them to revolve rapidly in their bearings, and, as they are in contact with the sides of" the ship, brush from it the accumulating i'onl matter thereon. When this brushing has been accomplished in one position, the Windlass b is turned by a suitable crank or otherwise, winding up as itis turned the guy-rope 1), that passes from the bottom of the scrapers to the alter part of the ship, and, the mooring-lines of the floats A being slackened, the scrapers are hanled'aft a distance equal to the width of the brushes, when, the lines being made taut again, the operation of revolving the brushes, just described, is repeated, and so on, from time to time, until the entire length of the vessel has been reached. 1

Now, as these guy-lines are hauled in, the scrapers E are forced from time to time along the sides and keel of the ship, and as they are thus forced they scrape off the accumulated barnacles and other matter which adheres to the vessel and its keel.

In this way the entire surface of bull and keel is eifectually brushed and scraped and rendered clean.

The carriages D I) may, it'desired, be made in sections or links, so that, in brushing a vessel of deep draft or high sides, two or more may be linked together, each link bearing a set of brushes; or, if desired, a guy-rope may be attached to the end of a single carriage, so that it could be raised or lowered, if desired, to enable the brushes to reach the entire surface of the hull.

In addition to the revolving brushes, fixed brushes Gr may be secured to the carriages, these fixed brushes operating, when the entire apparatus is moved from stem to stern, as before described or the revolving brushes and the fixed brushes maybe combined in onecarriage, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The drums t and Windlass c, as before stated, may be made in sections, with the line 0 wound about them in reverse directions, so that by alternately revolving the shaft 01 the brushes may be made to revolve first in one direction and then in the other, which opera tion would more efi'ectually tend to brush off the accumulated matter from the sides of the rhi The office of the plungers with the truck wheels thereon is to keep the carriages I) D from the sides of the Vessel, so that they may not be chafed, and also enable it to be easily moved up and down, the truck-wheels revolving as the carriage is moved.

The line 1, hereinbefore referred to,'has a double purpose, viz: keeping the lower end of the carriages closeto the vessi-ls sides, and also aiding in keeping the scrapers in the proper position.

1 do not wish to confine myself to any particular construction of the parts I have herein before described 5 but What I do claim as new, and desire to se care by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device for cleaning ships bottoms, a series of rotating brushes suspended in adjustable frames, substantially as described.

. 2. A series of rotating brushes suspended in adjustable frames, in combination with scrapers setin frames adapted to be expanded and contracted, substantially as described.

3. The series of rotating brushes set in adjustable frames, in combination with fixed brushes therein, substantially as described.

4. The floats A, hearing windlasses,'in com bin-ation with the series of adjustable rotating brushes and expanding'and contracting scrapers, substantially as shown and described.

Witnesses:

H. L. WATTENBERG, G. M. PLYMPTON.

WILLIAM MARTIN. 

